Expansion of Lakeshore West GO Service *CONSTRUCTION*

[Sean]

Issue Description

Current GO Train service to Hamilton is very limited. This is mainly due to scheduling difficulties involved in sharing the tracks with freight and Via service. Many people may not realize just how busy the rails are between Hamilton and Burlington. The Bayview Junction (below the high level bridge on York Blvd) sees as many as 45 train passings per day; it is the intersection of three major lines (Northeast toward Toronto, Southwest toward Brantford and Southeast toward Niagara).

In order to alleviate congestion and improve GO Service, GO Transit is adding a rail line between burlington and the Bayview junction. As outlined on the GO TRIP website:
By adding a new, third track on the main rail line, we can increase rush-hour service to Hamilton GO Centre, and, with fewer conflicts with freight train traffic, GO's on-time performance will improve. Today, we have limited opportunities for track time on this busy freight line.

Additional track capacity will also allow the all-day weekday service that terminates at Burlington GO Station to be extended to Aldershot GO Station. A short piece of track will be added at Aldershot so that GO Trains can pull in off the main line before heading back the other way.

Timeline

Construction started: 2005
Twinning of Plains Road East bridge and Hidden Valley bridge completed: 2006
Completion date: Estimated late 2007

Updates

June 2006
Track laying started

Spring 2006
Twinning of bridges at Plains Rd. East and Hidden Valley Rd. completed

[Jon Dalton]

I've been watching the progress over the last year and at this point I can count 3 tracks all the way to the Bayview Junction. I don't know what there is left but this project is due for completion in 2007.

Maybe it's finished already and they just haven't told us? I noticed when I first started taking this train in May 2006 there were frequent delays just past Aldershot, in fact I'd say the westbound trains were delayed more often than not, sometimes more than once on the same trip. Things cleared up around last winter and it hasn't got worse again.

There's also delays coming into Hamilton Go Station because of that nasty length of single track in the tunnel under Hunter St. but they don't last long.

[Sean]

I really hope they can double the tracks though that tunnel. it should be possible. Increasing GO train traffic to Hamilton is essential!

[Jon Dalton]

It looks like there is enough space but construction would interfere with the trains currently running. Maybe they could reroute them temporarily to Liuna Station? Lots of freight trains run through there and rerouting those would be a challenge. I don't think Go is even considering it because for one thing they don't own the tracks and they could also switch to Liuna Station and immediately increase the track capacity. I'm in favour of keeping the TH&B station because it is an important building and it's in a much more appropriate area. The lack of infrastructure devoted to passenger rail is a real problem in Canada, and I think in the future shifting priorities will force them to fix these issues.

[THE sean]

They would need to stop the trains at aldershot during the twinning, and run express buses as a temporary measure. It would suck for a while but would be well worth it in the long run. The need to double the tracks there can't have come as a shock to them. I would not be surprised if they already have a plan for expansion when the need arises. They sunk a lot into the th and b station, I do not think they would be that short sighted. Turning LIUNA back to a real train station is probably going to be much more difficult and painful than temporarily shutting that other line down for twinning.

[Jon Dalton]

The new track is now complete to just before Burlington station. The train used it this morning from the switch just after Bayview up to Aldershot, where it had to wait for a frieght train before switching back to the old track because the new platform there isn't finished. Once the platform work is done at Aldershot and Burlington, the Go train should be able to run without interruptions on the new line.

[Jon Dalton]

I did some exploring around the track, and found out the tunnel is only wide enough for one track. I guess they lacked that foresight when they excavated it in 1895. This problem could be solved by scheduling trains so that there aren't any conflicts around the tunnel, and that shouldn't be too hard considering it's so short. It's all double track from there to the junction.

Meanwhile, these past few weeks have seen more delays

[Sean]

We need more rail service as soon as possible. Thanks for the updates!

[Jon Dalton]

Well the new GO timetable is up, and changes take effect Sept. 1. For the second half of August they started Hamilton eastbound trains 5 minutes earlier to make up for delays while they complete construction. This has resulted in me missing alot of trains as my system attempts to adjust to get up 5 minutes sooner. Thank God it's over in a few days.

They're using the new track from Burlington to just before Aldershot, but during the initial run the speed is severely limited - likely standard procedure for new track installation. In one section the speed limit is 10 km/h! I love it when the conductors give you detail about what's going on.

A few times, they screwed up the switch and the train went into Aldershot on the 3rd rail which still doesn't have the platform completed, causing massive delays while it backtracks and switches amid complications with freights and VIA trains passing through. I'm sure everyone was pissed off, but I was excited because this was another tangible sign of progress.

If you look at the timetable however, the first phase of improvements doesn't help Hamilton at all - no new trains, and the rush hour schedule is the same, the only difference is off-peak hourly trains are extended to Aldershot. Hopefully this is only stage one, and stage two will reach out to Hamilton more in the ways we expected. (This will be the subject of a forthcoming article in Raise the Hammer).

Regarding the Hunter St. tunnel: It was originally double tracked in 1895, in fact, double tracking was part of the Hamilton bylaw that laid out the conditions for the TH&B railroad to recieve grant money to build into Hamilton. It may also be of interest that this tunnel was constructed, and track laid, in a matter of a few months. Rail was profitable back then. Fast forward 112 years, and it takes us a year and a half to build a freaking platform at Aldershot station.

[Sean]

Funny, I just found out today that (no ifs ands or buts), the tunnel will only accommodate 4 trains in and 4 trains out. However GO is open to the possibility of a supplemental platform on the northern line (running past LIUNA station), and would not be averse to running trains out of both with a shuttle between. It might be actually kinda cool if that happened. If I get any concrete info I'll post back.

[Jon Dalton]

That's a political obstacle, not an infrastructure one. If they gave any sort of priority to passenger rail, they could make frieghts stop on a siding east of the Hunter St. station to give the Go trains priority.

I'm reading the TH&B railroad history right now and I expect to find out why they cut out the double track. Probably just cost-cutting during reconstruction at some point in the 1950's or later when passenger rail was going downhill.

4 trains a day each direction is pathetic. 100 years ago they had more than twice as many, with freight trains on top of that.

[Jon Dalton]

For all those interested:

The Hunter St. tunnel was reduced to a single track in the 50's because the introduction of Centralized Traffic Control made it possible to run the same amount of traffic through the tunnel with one track. Train cars were getting bigger at that time, so there was an advantage to running one track through the middle.

Back then, they ran way more than 4 passenger trains in and out. Most were travelling between Hamilton and Buffalo, and there's alot more single track along that route than that short stretch in the tunnel.

The solution must involve better organization of passenger and freight trains through Hamilton. Traditionally there were 2 railroads handling both passengers and frieght. Today we have 2 exclusively frieght railroads and the GO system who can only lease track time. Since frieght is profitable and there are two companies in competition, more track time on CP's line would come at a high cost.

The government, CN an CP rail need to cooperate to come up with a solution that allows an all-day passenger rail service. For a city our size, and given the energy and transportation crises we're facing, there is no excuse not to have one.

[Sean]

My dream is that we have full GO service plus VIA and HSR all happening at the hunter station. I am 100% pessimistic about it though.

I would love to see VIA on the north line and full go at Hunter with a fast, well timed shuttle between. I am slightly more optimistic about that.

I enjoy reading about this rail stuff so keep it coming!

Thanks

[Genghis]

My dream is that we have full GO service plus VIA and HSR all happening at the hunter station. I am 100% pessimistic about it though.

I would love to see VIA on the north line and full go at Hunter with a fast, well timed shuttle between. I am slightly more optimistic about that.

I enjoy reading about this rail stuff so keep it coming!

Thanks

What is the LIUNA station for?

[Sil]

I have read so much on this topic and am angered at the fact that we do not have a via rail yet. In order to get service back into Hamilton and to bring the city back to life we need to look at whos calling the shots.... yes folks the major of hamilton Fred Eisenberger, Hamilton needs to stand up and let City Hall know this isnt working.... i was walking the other day up King Street and was so discusted with the streets and how many vacant houses there were, this isn't Detroit and nor do we want it to be....... we need to stand tall and make our voices heard...... call your ward member and let them know they cant silence us all.